APTA's Innovation Summit Reaches 1,000 Virtual Attendees

APTA's
inaugural Innovation Summit on March 8—a groundbreaking event that brought together
physical therapists, other health care providers, large health systems, and
policy makers to discuss the current and future role of physical therapy in
integrated models of care—was viewed by more than 1,000 virtual attendees. The
virtual attendees participated in the event via a web portal with a virtual
lobby and exhibit hall; innovative panels and speakers were livestreamed in a
virtual auditorium. More than 40 viewing parties, held primarily at
universities and health care facilities, watched the event. Further, the
Innovation Summit generated significant social media buzz, with 1,099 tweets
posted using the #PTSummit hashtag.

Onsite
attendance was by invitation only. The 150 onsite attendees included 17 APTA
physical therapist innovators who were nominated by APTA chapters and sections
to attend the event.

Innovation
Summit: Collaborative Care Models was APTA's first interactive virtual event.
With strong attendance, engagement from both the onsite and virtual audiences,
and robust discussions from the summit panels, APTA believes the summit will
further the role of physical therapy in innovative models appearing across the
country.

Foundation Gala: Honoring Past and Present Visionaries

The
Foundation's annual Gala will take place on Thursday, June 27, at the Hilton
Salt Lake City Center during APTA's Conference & Exposition. The program will include recognition of the Foundation's
2013 service award recipients and a special tribute to past trustees of the
Foundation's Board of Directors. The evening also will include a special
celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Marquette Challenge.

Tickets now are available
at the following prices: individual tickets ($150), student tickets ($100).
Table sponsorships are available for $2,000 each and include 10 individual Gala
tickets. Tables can be purchased through J. Spargo or by
contacting Erica Sadiq for additional
details

Cost of Diabetes Increases 41% in 5 Years

The
total costs of diagnosed diabetes have risen to $245 billion in 2012 from $174
billion in 2007, when the cost was last examined, says the American Diabetes Association.
This figure represents a 41% increase over a 5-year period.

The
study, Economic Costs of Diabetes in the US in 2012, includes direct medical costs of $176 billion, which
reflects costs for hospital and emergency care, office visits, and medications;
and indirect medical costs totaling $69 billion. Indirect costs include
absenteeism, reduced productivity, unemployment caused by diabetes-related
disability, and lost productivity due to early mortality.

In addition, the study found that:

Medical
expenditures for people with diabetes are 2.3 times higher than for those
without diabetes.

The
primary driver of increased costs is the increasing prevalence of diabetes
in the US population.

Despite
the introduction of new classes of medication for the treatment of
diabetes, antidiabetic agents and diabetes supplies continue to account
for only 12% of medical expenditures in both 2007 and 2012.

The research also examined costs along gender, racial and
ethnic lines, and included state-by-state data. Key findings include:

Most
of the cost for diabetes care in the US, 62.4%, is provided by government
insurance. The rest is paid for by private insurance (34.4%) or by the
uninsured (3.2%).

Total
per-capita health expenditures are higher among women than men ($8,331 vs
$7,458). Total per-capita health care expenditures are lower among
Hispanics ($5,930) and higher among non-Hispanic blacks ($9,540) than
among non-Hispanic whites ($8,101).

The
per-capita cost of medical care attributed to diabetes was $6,649 in 2007
and $7,900 in 2012, a 19% increase.

Among
states, California has the largest population with diabetes and thus the
highest costs, at $27.6 billion. Although Florida's total population
is fourth among states behind California, Texas, and New York, it is
second in costs at $18.9 billion.

The
study will be published in the upcoming April issue of Diabetes Care.

Call for CSM Steering Group Members

In 2011 and 2012, a CSM Review Work Group evaluated roles,
responsibilities, and decision-making authority for the development of the
Combined Sections Meeting (CSM). Out of that work emerged a recommendation for
a CSM Steering Group to provide high-level oversight and guide innovation of
the meeting. A 13-member CSM Steering Group has been established, with the
initial 10 members selected from the original work group. This call is to
identify 3 at-large members to complete the new CSM Steering Group. For more
information on the CSM Steering Group, contact Dena Kilgore.

The deadline for this call is April 1.
Interested APTA members should respond to the call by completing a volunteer
interest profile found on the Volunteer Interest Pool webpage. The
first step is creating a profile for service. After submitting the
profile, to be considered for current volunteer opportunities, members must
then access the "current opportunities for service page," select "CSM
Steering Group," and respond to the questions specific to the group.

Find Articles With 'Immediate' Clinical Relevance in March PTJ

This
month's PTJ includesarticles on a broad variety of topics
that have immediate clinical relevance, such as "People With Stroke Who
Fail an Obstacle Crossing Task Have a Higher Incidence of Falls and Utilize
Different Gait Patterns Compared With People Who Pass the Task" and
"The STarT Back Screening Tool and Individual Psychological Measures:
Evaluation of Prognostic Capabilities for Low Back Pain Clinical Outcomes in
Outpatient Physical Therapy Settings." Hear Editor in Chief Rebecca Craik,
PT, PhD, FAPTA, summarize these and other articles in the March Craikcast.